1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to personal protective equipment and, in particular, to a protective sports glove having independent pads, for use in sports such as lacrosse, ice hockey, motorcross, skiing, snowboarding, bicycling, cricket, and field hockey.
2. Background of the Invention
Protective sports gloves, and particularly lacrosse gloves, typically provide thick padding over the back of a player's hand. In lacrosse, this padding protects the player's hands from the hard contact of other players' sticks, which often occurs during checking. However, recent improvements in lacrosse heads and pockets, which make ball dislodgement more difficult, have resulted in an increased level of physical play, as players check more forcefully in efforts to free the ball. In addition, modern athletes tend to be bigger and stronger, increasing the physicality of games such as lacrosse and ice hockey. The protection afforded by the glove padding is therefore now more critical than it has ever been. Increasing the thickness of the padding can help, but often detracts from the comfort and maneuverability of the glove. In addition to protection, players demand feel and flexibility from lacrosse gloves to enable precise stick handling. Thus, increased protection can often work at odds with comfort and maneuverability.
Some conventional lacrosse gloves, such as the glove 100 shown in FIG. 1, have pad segments (e.g., made of foam) that are covered with leather or synthetic leather and, in the valleys between the segments, are affixed to one another and to a backing material, such as a woven fabric. In these types of conventional gloves, individual pads are affixed to surrounding pads and to a solid backing by, for example, stitching, adhesives, high frequency welding, or other suitable attachment means. The glove 100 can have pads, for example, in the palm (not shown), the thumb (not shown), the fingers 150, the back hand area 152, the cuff roll 154 (e.g., protecting the wrist), and the cuff 156 (e.g., protecting the forearm).
FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the glove 100 of FIG. 1 along line A-A, showing covered pad segments that are stitched together and to a backing material. As shown, glove 100 includes pad segments 200, each of which has a pad core 202, a rigid inner cover 208, and an outer cover 204. The ends 206 of the outer covers 204 of adjacent pad segments 200 are overlapped and are stitched together and to a backing material 210.
The breaks between the pad segments are typically located to accommodate a flex point (e.g., the knuckles or finger joints) or contour (e.g., the shape of a closed first) of the hand. When a player wearing a conventional glove wraps his hand around a stick during play, the pad segments are all pulled away from each other, creating tension on the attached ends 206 and an uncomfortable resistance and stiffness. Increases in the thickness, size, and number of the pad segments or in the rigidity of the material from which the pad segments are made further exacerbate this problem.